Blaisdell, Dr. Wesely, House

The Dr. Wesley Blaisdell home (1838) is an outstanding intact example of Greek Revival temple front style architecture in the region. Constructed by Dr. Wesley Blaisdell, physician and son of a wealthy land owner, the imposing dwelling displays a number of salient characteristics associated with this imposing architectural style. These features include the building's monumental two story portico supported on paneled posts, finely crafted entrance and prominent hill top setting

The Blaisdell house is located at the southern edge of the town of Coeymans in the Hudson River hamlet known as Coeymans Landing. The town, which was incorporated in 1791, was settled in 1673 with the arrival of Barent Pieterse Coijemans (ca. 1625-1710). Coeymans had arrived in New Amsterdam (New York), from Texel, Holland in 1639. In that same year he was indentured to the Patroon, Killian Van Rensselaer, to serve as an apprentice in his Renaselarwick (Albany) mills. After more than 30 years working for and leasing land and mills from the Patroon, Coeymans purchased a vast land tract along the Hudson River south of the Patroon's land.

Coeymans quickly established a number of mills along the mouth of a creek (now known as the Coeymans Creek) within his new patent. During the late seventeenth century Coeymans would amass a sizable and lucrative milling operation in addition to a general trade business along the Hudson River. From this point on the area known as Coeymans Landing begins to develop as a prosperous river shipping port. One of the earliest merchants in the Landing was William A. Dumont. His 1799 account book reveals a trade in spices, molasses, tobacco, cloth, clothing, rice, brandy and spirits.

An account of Coeymans made by John Maude, who was traveling from New York to Albany in 1800 noted that Coeymans consisted of about 30 houses. In 1813 the landing is described by Horatio Spatford as having wharves and several slops, about 30 houses, a post office, 2 grist mills and a saw mill (the Coeymans mills). Accounts from 1824 note the congregation of a large crowd at the Coeymans docks to cheer the passing of the vessel that was carrying General Lafayette to a celebration in Albany. A similar crowd at the Landing is recorded at the opening celebration of the Erie Canal in 1825. In an 1860 account of Albany County, Coeymans Landing is described as a village of considerable trade with a population of 650.

The Blaisdell family traces its roots in this country to Ralfe Blaisdel who arrived from England in 1636 and first settled in York, Maine. In 1640 Ralfe and his family are located in Amsbury, Massachusetts. The family would remain in Amsbury for many more generations. Levi Blaisdell, son of Oliver Blaisdell and Miriam (Bagley) was born on September 20, 1757. It is presumed that like his father and grandfather (Samuel Blaisdell) he too was a shipwright. During the Revolutionary War all three generations served in the army. Accounts from the Clinton Papers show that in 1777, Levi was sent to Coeymans to serve under Col. Corneilus D. Wynkoop. Wynkoop had been charged with building several gunboats to aid in the defense of the Hudson River. A shipyard was established in North Coeymans. By April of 1778, Wynkoop reports that he had about fifty carpenters at work building flat bottom boats of forty-foot keel and sixteen-foot beam. During this period board lumber from the Coeymans' sawmills was being shipped to West Point for the construction of barracks.

In August 1778, Blaisdell and Benjamin Springsteen accompanied several of the completed gunboats to West Point. At this time Blaisdell continued on to Fishkill and White Plains. After the war he returned to Amsbury.
Levi returned to Coeymans some time before 1782. In that year he married Ariaantje Ver Planck (17551814). Ver Plank was the daughter of David Ver Planck and his third wife Catherine Boom. Ver Plank's first wife was Ariaantje Coeymans. Coeymans was the daughter of Barent Pieterse Coeymans. She married Ver Planck in 1723." At that time she was 51 years of age, thirty-three years older than Ver Planck. After her death her sizable estate passed directly to her husband.

Levi and his wife had no children. She died in 1814. In that same year Levi married Mary Farr Johnston (1785-1860). Together the couple had three children, Wesley (1815-1864), Ariaantje (1821-?), and Fletcher (1817-1865). Local accounts note that Levi contributed greatly to the quality of life in the hamlet by assisting with the building of schools and churches. He collected rents on large tracts of land both locally and in Massachusetts. With what appears to be sizable income derived largely from his first marriage he lived the life of a country gentleman.

Both of his children, Ariaanjte and Fletcher married locally and built large architecturally sophisticated homes in the hamlet'. In 1838 Wesley constructed his stylish Greek Revival home located on a high point of land overlooking the Hudson River. The large brick dwelling was built on land he received from his father.
Wesley was trained as a doctor and established a practice in Coeymans. Wesley married Margaret Collins (1818-1855). Together they had several children. Margaret died in 1855. Wesley would serve as a surgeon with the NY 75" Regiment, New York Infantry in the Civil War, dying of Yellow Fever at Fortress Monroe on October 22, 1864. Records show that Dr. Blaisdell had been honorably discharged in 1862, but then, according to local history, was rejoining his unit after a leave in New Orleans when he fell ill.

The Blaisdell house was acquired by local businessman John J. Colvin after Blaisdell's death. Colvin was born in Coeymans on February 10, 1815. He was the grandson of John Colvin (1752-1814) and Sarah Fuller (1754-?). Colvin had served in the New York State Assembly in 1811. At the age of 17, John J. Colvin he began an apprenticeship as a boot maker. He would go on to establish a bluestone shipping business in partnership with Noble H. Johnson. The company bought into other businesses. In 1844 the company sold the stone shipping business and a forwarding business taking on Henry Niles as a third partner. The company commissioned the construction of the Hudson River sloop “Oregon." The various ventures that Colvin engaged in had amassed him considerable wealth. It should also be noted that John J. Colvin was cousins with the Andrew James Colvin (b.1808-d.1889). Andrew Colvin's father was James Colvin who, like Levi Blaisdell, had married a daughter of David VerPlanck. This union brought considerable land and wealth into the family from the old Coeymans estate. Andrew Colvin served in several elected positions in the city of Albany and was elected a New York State Senator in 1860. Andrew Colvin's son, VerPlanck Colvin, is considered the father of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in New York State. He was instrumental in creation of the state legislation that created the preserve and prepared the survey of the park establishing its boundary (the Blue Line). All members of the Colvin family, including Verplanck Colvin, are buried in the family plot in Grove Cemetery in Coeymans.

In 1838 John J. Colvin married Catherine Lawton. They had six children, three of which survived to adulthood. In the 1860s Colvin purchased the Blaisdell home and remodeled it based on the current architectural trends of the period. These changes would have included the introduction of the two story bay window on the south elevation, the renovated entrance, and interior alterations including the Eastlake style fireplace. The estate was now known as "Maplehurst."

After Colvin's death in 1887 the home passed to his daughter, Annie Colvin (1846-1927) who had married local businessman and merchant Andrew J. Wolfe (1841-1901).

As built in 1838 the Blaisdell house is an outstanding regional example of the Greek Revival aesthetic. The decision by Wesley Blaisdell in 1838 to build his home in the Greek Revival style reflects the fact that despite its rural location, lack of affluence and small population in the early nineteenth century, Coeymans was not isolated from the influences of several of the intellectual currents of the day. A revival of interest in classical culture had swept America as a result of the archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii and sympathy for Greece during its war for independence from the Ottoman Empire (1821-30), leading to a revival and reinterpretation of classical models in art and architecture. The widespread use of the Greek Revival style in the first half of the nineteenth century also reflected the shift of American popular taste away from British architectural influences as a result of the War of 1812. Perhaps most important, Americans revered ancient Greece as the homeland of democracy. In incorporating forms and symbols associated with the architecture of ancient Greece into contemporary churches, schools, and civic buildings Americans reaffirmed the ideals and aspirations that they held for their new communities and for the new nation.

In form and detail the Blaisdell home, as built in 1838, is clearly a builder's adaptation of this first national style. The home is noteworthy for prominent siting, exaggerated proportions, monumental two-story temple-front form, fine craftsmanship and attention to details. The home remains a visual landmark in the local community and stands as a monument to several of the community's leading citizens and families.